


Mecto Amore

by GrangeLady



Category: Captain America (Movies), Steam Powered Giraffe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Dysphoria, Flashbacks, Gen, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Past Torture, Period-Typical Transphobia, Post-Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Post-transition Rabbit, Robot Feels, Snippets from Bucky and Rabbit's friendship throughout the years, accidental misgendering, kind of
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-04-06
Updated: 2015-04-11
Packaged: 2018-03-21 15:07:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 961
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3696875
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GrangeLady/pseuds/GrangeLady
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Bucky doesn't always remember things right nowadays, but he's sure there's something different about Rabbit. </p><p>(Steam Powered Giraffe knew Steve and Bucky back in the day, and the Winter Soldier always knew on some level that even if he was a machine, he could still be a person.)</p><p>ON HIATUS because I'm writing part of my thesis on SPG and I can't juggle academic thought and fanfiction without both of them suffering.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Way Home](https://archiveofourown.org/works/691681) by [Exdraghunt](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Exdraghunt/pseuds/Exdraghunt). 



> This is by no means a comprehensive exploration of my interpretation of this 'verse, but I just have too many thoughts about it and so I thought I should share some of them. I don't have a beta and have not transitioned, so if there are any huge problems or anything offensive in here, please do comment so I can fix it.
> 
> There aren't enough SPG and Avengers crossovers, so here's one for the pile.

Bucky sits opposite Steve at a table for three in the corner of a bustling coffee shop and lets himself feel a little proud of his progress. Sure, he can't stop checking the exits and Steve ordered his drink for him because Bucky started feeling overwhelmed by the choice, but hey. He's out of the Tower. He hasn't had a panic attack for a week, and Steve's been going on about this place's lattes for a lot longer than that. 

He even finds himself smiling at Steve when the blond lowers his cup and has a dab of foam at the corners of his mouth. Steve smiles back, oblivious, and Bucky touches his own top lip as a hint. With his flesh hand, because while he trusts Tony not to screw up the cham-sleeve that covers his metal one, it's October and he's enjoying the lingering warmth of the coffee. Steve's looking down into his napkin, so Bucky sees... her first.

"Hey, fellas." 

For a long, horrible moment, Bucky thinks that he's having a flashback that's gone wrong. That his mind has come untethered to bring him the vision of a Howling Commando in a dress and striped tights. He blinks and looks back at Steve, whose smile has something strange in it as he watches Bucky. 

"Hey, Rabbit. Would you like to sit down?" 

Bucky only jumps a little when Rabbit pulls out the empty chair and creaks down into it. He (She?) reaches for the menu with those familiar slightly-jerky movements, and Steve laughs like he's just heard a great joke. Rabbit smiles too, and Christ. He can't be hallucinating that vividly. It's the same smile, and like it always has it pulls one from Bucky in answer. 

"Any opinions on the water they have here?" Rabbit's addressing Bucky - and later he'll figure out why Steve isn't surprised, the scheming jerk - so Bucky forces words from somewhere in him.

"I'd recommend it. They don't overcook it here." An old joke. Older than most of the people in the room. 

Steve and Rabbit seem happy enough to carry most of the conversation, so Bucky just looks at the 'bot's faceplate and lets some memories happen to him.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bucky's first memory of Rabbit.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A note: since Rabbit was presenting as male during WWII, Bucky's memories will eventually refer to her using he/him pronouns. I thought hard about this, but can't think of any way around it. Please do comment if you have thoughts or suggestions!

Bucky bites back a curse as another round of wierd energy missiles fly overhead. He's lying on his front between Falsworth and Jones, in the dip of ground gouged out by some Hydra vehicle long before they arrived, and the only reason they're still alive is that they're muddy enough to look like part of the landscape. 

The Hydra compound they were tackling was apparently less abandoned than their intel had led them to believe. Somewhere over to the East, the rest of the Commandos are doing a little better, if the flashes of light and sounds of crunching are anything to judge by. Bucky and Gabe are stuck here, though, trying to keep Falsworth's lolling head from drowning him in the mud. He isn't bleeding that Bucky can see but he isn't conscious either, having fallen after being shot with... something. A gun, probably. Bucky isn't going to call it a ray until he had no other choice. 

"They aren't lookin' for us, sarge." Gabe says from the far side of Monty, in a now-familiar tone that meant he wanted to whisper but needed to be heard over the noise of battle. He's right, Bucky knows, because anyone with half a brain and half an eye could have picked them off by now. 

Bucky nods in response, steeling his resolve. Whatever put Monty in this state's still pulsing above them in waves, but they need to move if they're going to be any use to Monty, Steve, or anyone. He raises his head to try and gauge the timing of the damn thing, taking his hand off the top of Monty's head to support his own weight. 

This is the image that gathers in his eyes and never quite shakes out: a tall figure, dark against the blue glare, dressed in a US army uniform and a top hat, striding towards them like something out of a dream. The light doesn't seem to bother it were at all. Maybe Gabe can't make out the figure's uniform in the brightness, because Bucky has to stop him fumbling for his gun. Putting his hand out so quickly drops him back into the mud, but then the thing's crouching in front of them and asking, "Are you all hurt?" The concerned frown on its face almost doesn't register, Bucky's attention all on the metal strangeness of the face itself. 

"Just Falsworth," he manages, through the blank shock. The thing, the soldier, nods and bends further to examine Falsworth for a moment. Bucky can only measure the blue light dimming by the shadows growing on the soldier's face as it turns to him.

"Could you move a little, please? I hear it's bad taste to lift people by the head." It's smiling at him. Bucky feels kind of sick, but crawls back to give it some room. It hoists Falsworth up like a baby and looks back down at them. "I think it's safe to come out now." The blue light is barely flickering now. He and Gabe clamber out of their hide and exchange an uneasy glance before the soldier sets off at a brisk pace and they're forced to jog to keep up. 

It's not until more than an hour later, when Falsworth's sleeping it off in a real bunk and Steve's gone to chew out someone about bad intel, that Bucky learns it prefers to be called Rabbit. Some time before Bucky first hears Rabbit sing (Bucky doesn't remember when, exactly), he stops being 'it' and Bucky feels ashamed that he ever was.

**Author's Note:**

> Short first chapter, I know! Sort of ran out of steam (get it?) for today, but there is a lot more where this is coming from.


End file.
